Yaka mein is sometimes referred to as "Old Sober", as it is commonly prescribed by locals as a cure for hangovers. Vendors are common at New Orleans
second lines, along with other settings including the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, alongside many other
Creole and
Cajun specialties. One of the major proponents of yaka mein since 2006 is Linda Green, who caters the dish at the
Ogden Museum of Southern Art, JazzFest, Oak Street Po’Boy Fest, among other locations and cultural events in New Orleans. The soup is well loved by locals but not well known outside of the city and its surrounding region. In New Orleans, there are variations of yaka mein that are heavily influenced by
Vietnamese cuisine, utilizing more Vietnamese ingredients and cooking methods, due to New Orleans and Louisiana's large
Vietnamese population, many of whom settled in African-American neighborhoods. These variations on yaka mein often bear a resemblance to
pho, albeit with stronger flavors and different flavor palettes. The dish is also found in
Norfolk, Virginia;
Baltimore, Maryland; and
Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, and
Bellevue, Pennsylvania carry-out restaurants. Some versions of yaka mein consist of thick wheat noodles (similar to
udon) in a ketchup-based sauce or brown gravy, accompanied by thickly sliced onions, a hard-boiled egg, and fried noodles. Roast pork (
char siu), chicken, and seafood can be added, with some restaurants including the option of
pigs' feet. The Baltimore variation, colloquially called yat gaw mein or "dirty yak", utilizes
shrimp,
crayfish, or
blue crab as the primary source of protein instead of beef brisket, due to the popularity of shellfish in Maryland; the noodles are
udon and are served in a thicker, richer gravy than New Orleans yakamein. Chinese restaurants in both northwest and northeast Baltimore are known for their yat gaw mein, with a slight rivalry between the two areas in methods of serving and popularity. In Norfolk and the surrounding
Hampton Roads area, yaka mein is known as "box of yock" and served in takeout pails; this name is shared with the style of yaka mein in
Cambridge, Maryland, on Maryland's
Eastern Shore. Unlike the other variants, Cambridge-style yock likely lacks a connection to Chinese cuisine and immigration, being made with spaghetti noodles, tomato sauce, hot sauce, meat, onion, and a hard-boiled egg; the name likely derives from its relative similarity as a meat and noodle dish to the variants of yaka mein along other cities in the Mid-Atlantic and South. ==Etymology==